Louis Durey was the son of a businessman. He had no idea that he wanted to be a composer until he heard the operaPélléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy. He was then already 19 years old. He taught himself how to compose.

Durey became a member of the group called Les Six in 1920. However, he did not take part in the music they wrote together in 1921 called Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel. This made Jean Cocteau very annoyed.